An embellished lid is your woodworking calling card.
Embellished tool chests are perhaps the quintessential calling card of the cabinetmaker. Woodworkers are known for decorating their chests with the finest materials, such as Benjamin Seatons mahogany or tulipwood masterpiece or Henry Studley’s unmatched work.
I believe that the old-timers built just as much for themselves as they did for their customers. Because I don’t build furniture for a living I created this chest lid with inlaid dividers and dovetail saw. This is a sort of coat-of-arms for the fight against cheap furniture. I ask you this: Are you ready to fight?
The Foundation
High-class ply. The best plywood is made from scratch. Make sure you alternate each layer at 90.
Typical chest lids are constructed either of a solid panel framed by a narrow dust seal, or by a smaller panel or two and wider, more substantial frame members to help keep the lid flat and isolate wood movement. A solid lid with a narrow dust sealing would be the best option for me.
Lumber-core plywood is the only option for quality work that will give you the stability you need. I was unable to find this product in lumberyards so I created my own using the finest materials.
The basic structure of a lumber core is the same as that of plywood. It has an odd number layers and each layer has grain running perpendicular to it. The core of a lumber-core panel is thicker so it can be used and attached like a solid-wood panel.
For the core I used mahogany, which I glued up from three boards, each about 15 cm wide. These widths are easy to obtain quartered mahogany, but any quartered mild-grain wood can work.
Onto each face of this core, glue a layer of -thick veneer or two alternating layers of typical thinner veneer (always glue both sides of the panel at once), orienting the grain at 90 to the layer its glued to.
I made the panel about larger in length and width than the final size. Final thickness is not so critical. The finished lid measured approximately.
The Sunburst
Divide & conquer. One tool is all it takes to lay out the sunburst.
To lay out the sunburst, draw a circle in the middle of the lid, then, using dividers, walk off as many rays as youd like. Next, draw lines from the center of the circle to reach the edge of your lid. My rays are 56. That sounds like a lot, but once they get to the edge of the panel, they end up quite wide.
I didn’t want the sun to shine too bright so I chose woods with similar values: quartered beech and birds-eye maple. These were resawed from one board to ensure that the grain was matched.
Each ray should be cut at an inch and a half. You can cut more material than you think is necessary, and then you can continue cutting. You’ll ruin some.
Arrow-straight. A ramped shooting board is used to present the edge of the rays to more of the planes iron. This spreads the wear on your blade, keeping it sharper for longer.
First, you need to cut the rays into shape by tracing one straight edge. My shooting board has a ramp to allow me to use more planes iron. The board is angled uphill, so plane action forces thin rays down onto it. It is also covered with self-adhesive paper to prevent rays from sliding. The rays are stopped at the end to prevent them from moving forward. The shooting board can be used by extending the edge of the Ray over the ramp. The ramp’s edge is not where the plane’s sole will ride.
Lay out the rays using the lines on your lid. Next, trim the lines to your desired length. Finally, plane the tapered edge on the shooting board. As you move on to the next ray, secure the first one with push pins.
There is a little room for error when fitting the rays on one edge at a given time. If youre off a tad on one ray, make up for it on the next one. Once you reach the final ray, make sure to fit each edge perfectly, but don’t forget to separate the rays.
Each one at a time. Fit the rays edges precisely, but keep the narrow end long. Crossbanding will trim the wide end later.
The rays are edge-glued before gluing them to the panel. The rays are numbered in sequence. Next, use a pencil to draw a line that crosses each of the rays around the sunburst. This will allow you to align each section when assembly is complete.
Separate the sunburst into sections of about eight rays. Tape the rays together by flipping each section over. Now flip it back over and remove the small pieces of tape you used to join each ray. Replace these with veneer tape along each joint. After the veneer tape has dried, flip the section and take off the masking tape.
Sectioned off. Take a few rays at once, and then put them all together into the final sunburst. This will keep you sane.
Each section should be glued by folding the rays open to expose the joint. Next, apply a little glue to the next joint. Clean any squeeze-out, then lay the section flat between a couple of pieces of MDF or plywood and put a weight on it. Line the MDF with packing tape or waxed paper so the glue doesnt stick.
Once all the rays have dried, glue each section in the same manner. Before gluing, check the fit. The edges can be adjusted by shooting them.
This is the best part. And its all right. The first truly satisfying moment is smooth-planing the sunburst.
Finally, the last oversized ray is fit. It will need to be refit because the glue thickness, multiplied over 56 joints, has slightly changed the shape of the sunburst. After it is fitted, glue the edges together and then tape it in place. Dont force it in too tight, or youll cause the whole sunburst to buckle like a potato chip. After it cures, scrape off any dried glue, then glue it to the plywood panel, along with the outside veneer (mine is sugar pine). Smooth-plane the sunburst after the glue has dried.
Crossbanding & Medallion
Squeeze this. This will ensure that your banding blank glue is flat and straight. I make these quickly with a pneumatic nailer.
For the Macassar Macassar Ebony Crossbanding, slice slices off a board approximately 12 inch thick. Sandwich these slices between two layers of holly-dyed veneer and a double layer of black-dyed holly. Make sure the blank is longer than the longest run of banding on the lid. Glue them together using a plywood press box. I line the inside of the press with packing tape so the glue doesnt stick. Use epoxy because the epoxy is only compatible with ebony glue. After the glue has cured, cut strips slightly thicker than the sunburst from the blank.
To fit the banding, cut a shallow rabbet around the entire perimeter. Use a router with an edge guide to get close to your layout lines, then use a shoulder plane to make it all as perfect as possible. Where the banding wraps around the corner squares, hinges and catch, do the layout with a square and marking knife, then rout and chisel to the gauge line.
Start at any corner and cut a miter on one end of a piece of banding, then mark the other end and cut the miter, then glue it in place with masking tape wrapped over the edge. Fit the next piece to the end of the first piece, miter the opposite end, and glue. This way youre only fitting and gluing one side of a miter at a time. Only the last piece of the miter must be fitted before glueing.
Its tricky. Dont be discouraged if you toast some of the banding. I did. You get twice as much experience for every mistake.
To adjust the angle, I use a small miterbox with a fine dozukisaw and a small plane. As a support for planing, a small piece of scrap plywood with sandpaper attached to both sides acts as a guide. To prevent string blowout or short grain, you will need to plane in both directions.
Crossbanding is unusual in that the grain runs opposite to a typical miter. This means you cant always plane with the grain.
To adjust the miter, use a file or sanding blocks.
Next, the bookmatched kingwood corners squares and holly strings are glued. Crossbanding and corners should not be too large so that when the lid is trimmed to its final size, they will end crisply at their edges. The short ends of my lid were given a cherry banding strip. This will be hidden in the skirt of the lid.
Channel groove. The 381 cm length of the metal-cutting endmill cuts straight lines for stringing.
It is much easier than you think to do circular crossbanding. Set up a router to circle cut and then rout a groove in the middle of the sunburst.
Crosscut tiles approximately 2 inches long starting at a 2-inch thick Macassar strip. You can plane both the long-grain edges to make a taper. It is possible to achieve the right angle with some practice. As you press the tile to the groove’s outside edge, glue it down using hide glue. Move from tile to tile, fitting each one individually while gluing it to the edge of the previous tile. The gap at the outer diameter should not be too big.
String theory. While you glue a few inches at once, the block at the top holds the end of the stringing.
After the glue cures, plane the tiles flush with the sunburst. Set up a small router to cut the channel for the stringing between the outside edge of the tiles and the sunburst. I use an end mill with a Dremel tool and a mini router base.
For easy handling, glue the veneer lines together first. Next, use a chisel to cut a miter at the end. You can press the stringing into your groove by using a little glue. The stringing should fit snugly, but not too tight. Otherwise, they might not fit properly after glue has been applied.
When you reach the beginning, hold the end of the stringing lines up to the miter and cut a matching miter on the free end. This mini scarf joint can be easily lost if you’re careful. Allow the glue to dry, and then trim the stringing.
The enemy must be defeated. The center of the circle is gone. The router’s extended base prevents it from taking a dip.
Then, use your circle-cutting router to cut the tile’s inner diameter. Next, excavate the circle until it reaches a uniform depth. Youll need to attach a larger auxiliary base to your router to span the cavity. Your medallions should not be more than the final depth.
With your circle-cutting router, cut a piece of MDF or hardboard to act as a template for sizing the medallion. The medallion template should be fitted to the lid accurately, but not too tight. If you test-fit the medallion later and its too tight, it might get stuck. It should fit comfortably, but not too loosely.
Its good to be the king. Kingwood is that. Arrange the sequential slices as pictured, and each ray will be no more than two slices away from its mate.
Make the sunburst medallion the same way as the large one. Bookmatch every other ray, number them and arrange them in order as shown below.
It can be glued in the same manner as before. However, this time, you will need to assemble each half and then join the straight edges to make the medallion. Attach the circle template to the medallion with double-sided tape and rout with a bearing-guided bit.
The Monograms
Purchase a vowel. The letters will fit perfectly when you cut the double bevel inlay. This is inlay for the lazy, but smart.
To make the monograms, start with the background wood. I used kingwood to match the medallion and corner squares. Using resawn stock allows you to make a four-way bookmatch that looks elegant behind the holly letters. Wrap the background in a smaller version ebony banding and miter the corners. A weaved ribbon design can be created at the top and bottom each monogram using between 30 and 60 miter cuts. This adds tons of visual interest and dimension to the monogram. As you place each miter, glue it to the background edge.
The holly letters must first be inlayed before crossbanding can take place. Well, thats not entirely true. The letters and mortises are actually cut out simultaneously on the scrollsaw with the table tilted slightly.
Double-bevel is a technique that creates a wedge-shaped, holly-shaped letter. It drops into a similarly tapered recess to ensure a perfect fit.
This is the point. Assemble the points, flatten the bottom edge, glue it to the top and then attach the monogram. This is easier than fitting each point individually.
Attach a piece of holly (they should be equal in thickness) to the kingwood. Next, tilt your saw to 10 degrees to get started. Make some test cuts along the edge. If the piece on top fits perfectly in the bottom and ends up flush, youve got it. Adjust the tilt of your table to make sure it isn’t too tight or loose.
If you test-cut, note that the top piece will fit in either the bottom or the other layer depending on whether you are moving counterclockwise or clockwise. This knowledge is crucial when cutting interior shapes such as the triangle at the letter A. This is how Roman numerals work.
To inlay the completed monograms, tack them in position with a few tiny dots of cyanoacrylate glue, then scribe around them carefully with a hobby knife.
Crisp. It would be delicious if this mortise were cereal. Lucky charms are not the best way to achieve good results. Sharp tools are essential, and this is no blarney.
Pop off the monogram with a thin knife, then rout the mortise to just a little less than the monograms thickness and chisel carefully right in the scribe line. You can file the edge to the monogram at an angle, but not more than a couple of degrees, before you start scribing. This will allow your scribe line to be slightly smaller than the inlay and encourage a perfect fit.
Glue the monograms in using a flat caul, then plane them flush.
At this point, you can scrape the lid flat and smooth, cut the top to final size and apply a finish (leave the outside and edges unfinished for now). Sanding holly and kingwood at the same moment is dangerous. The kingwood heats up, and bleeds into the holly. Plan your final surface and only sand lightly.
The Montage
Pencilshop 2.0. Use the meat computer God gave you and render yourself a coat of arms.
Are you still with me? Excellent. The montage allows you to have real fun and break away from your routine. To get the right look, first make some pencil sketches of your favorite tools. Dont worry if they dont look perfect. Just sketch roughly to let your ideas flow. After I was satisfied with my sketch, I used drawing software to refine everything so that I could manipulate the sizes and arrangement of the tools.
The tool profiles can be printed and glued to boxeswood blanks. These can be cut out using a scrollsaw or fretsaw. Then, refine the shapes with carving tools, rasps and scrapers. Do not pay attention to how the tools overlap or which parts may be cut. Just carve the tools as if they will stand on their own.
After the tools have been shaped you can start the layout process. Set out the tools on your sketch and mark the parts that overlap with each other.
Marking knives are used to precisely scribe your cutlines. I use a fine dozuki to make the cuts, then refine them with planes, files and chisels.
Slice & dice. You can cut them into small pieces if you have the right tools. It’s a bit sad. You have hugged a tree lately, havent you?
Once everything is in place, attach the tools to the medallion. Finally, use a hobby knife to scribe the instructions. Press the knife tightly to the edge, make a light pass, then go back once or twice to deepen it slightly.
Take the tools out of the medallion and rub some chalk dust in the scribe line. This will make it very visible. Rout the inlay mortise, and chisel right in the scribe line on straight sections.
To rout tight curves, I use my Dremel tool to directly reach the scribe line. When you see the chalk disappear, youve routed to the line.
Ease the bottom arris of the inlay and test-fit carefully. It should be tight. If you’re ham-handed, be careful when removing the piece. It could chip some of the short grains.
Chalk it up. A bit of white powder in the scribe lines ensures you dont blow it when routing the mortise.
Once the inlay mortises are cut, finish the medallion, keeping finish out of the mortises I use an old T-shirt on a cork block. Next, glue the medallion to the lid.
Finish the boxwood tools while this cures. Mask the bottom surface so it stays free of finish. After the finish has dried, glue the tools to the medallion with hide glue. Apply a little glue to the mortise. Press the tools in place, tapping lightly with a block or small hammer if needed. Hold the position for a while and then move on to the next piece. Dont use excessive glue. You can remove any glue beads with a hobby knife once it is dry.
You might consider making an embellished lid to your tool chest. I believe you should. Develop a strategy and sharpen your tools. Then, emerge triumphant from the ashes of battle.
Blog: Read this post from the author with more details, more pictures and a video about the creating of the lid panel.
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